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“I understand,” I finally say, breaking the tension between us. “I can’t imagine what it would be like to walk away from your little girl.”
“It’s enough to crush even the toughest man’s heart,” he replies with tears now streaming from both eyes. “It’s right up there with spending the majority of your life with the wrong woman.” He wipes his forearm across both eyes and let’s out a huge sigh. “I gotta go get cleaned up before I get this shit in my eyes.”
I hand him a paper towel and say, “Thanks for the talk, Ray. You might want to have the same one with Mandy this weekend,” I add as we walk up the sidewalk.
“I will. I’m going to set both girls down tomorrow night and lay it all out,” he says before entering the house. “They have enough on their minds right now.”
“I agree. Tomorrow night would probably be better.”
“You know,” he pauses in the doorway and looks back at me. “I’m glad you turned out to be Victor’s son. I think you and Mandy will be good for each other.” He gives me a slight grin before turning and heading inside.
“Thanks, Ray.” I follow him into the house. “I appreciate that.”
Chapter 11
Trey
It’s close to midnight by the time Mandy drops me off at the B&B in Lynchburg. I know I should probably let her go back home and spend this time with her family, but they were all going to bed anyway. I reach over, placing my hand on her cheek and lean in giving her a warm, sensual kiss.
“You are making it pretty damn hard for me to go back home,” she murmurs as our lips part.
“That was my intent,” I whisper back, feeling a rush of hormones. I immediately take her lips in mine once again, kissing her even more fervently than the previous one.
“Okay, I’ll stay for a little while,” she relents, shutting off the car. “But only for a little while.”
“Only for a little while,” I agree, taking her by the hand and quietly opening the front door. We tiptoe past the registration desk and tread as lightly as possible on the creaky old staircase. We slowly navigate the rest of the noisy floorboards that make up the hallway and both give a sigh of relief when we finally reach the door to my room.
“I feel like a high school kid.” Mandy giggles before creeping inside the room and turning on the overhead light.
“Yeah, this whole day has been a little weird,” I admit.
“Weird? Weird in a bad way?” she asks, turning back toward me.
“No, weird in a good way,” I laugh. “I don’t know, everything is just so different from everything I’ve ever known. I’ve definitely never stayed in a place where I had to sneak in at midnight,” I tell her with a laugh.
On cue, there is a knock on the door, so I crack it open just slightly. “I just wanted to let you know that we will be serving breakfast at eight thirty,” Peggy says, pushing the door open wide enough to get a good look inside. “Oh, hello,” she says to Mandy. “I thought I heard voices in the hallway. At least now I know I’m not going completely crazy.” She comes into the room and looks directly at Mandy. “I knew you looked familiar, I didn’t put two and two together until I saw your mother’s car. I’m so sorry to hear of her passing.”
“Thank you, Peggy,” Mandy says, accepting a hug from her.
“I’ve known her since she was a little girl. How is your dad doing?” she asks after pulling back a bit.
“He’s doing pretty well. She’s been sick for a long time, so they had both accepted the inevitable,” she says with sadness once again dominating her features.
“Well, you tell him hello from me. I hear you are having a private service for her?”
“Yeah, Mom didn’t want a fuss. You know her.” Mandy sighs.
“Well, I have a fresh peach pie for you to take with you when you leave,” she says. “It was your mother’s favorite.”
“Yes, it definitely was her favorite.” Mandy tears up again. “Thank you Peggy.”
“My pleasure. Now you two have a good night,” she says with a rather judgmental look on her face.
“Oh, I’m not staying,” Mandy quickly retorts, setting the record straight. “I just wanted to make sure he got in okay, being a city boy and all.”
“I understand, dear,” she replies, with a strong note of skepticism.
We both just stare at her while she slowly closes the door and creaks her way back down the hallway to the staircase. Mandy gets a big grin and says, “Okay, maybe this is a little weird.”
